So this has been a dramatic few days. I’m gonna go ahead and bullet point this week’s events:

• Movers came and packed up my house. I am now living with a card table, one chair, my pilates ball, and a blow up mattress.
• While I was running, someone broke into the Hippie Spaceship, smashing my rear passenger’s window.
• I received my publication money for Tracking the Tempest. Of which, I still haven’t actually SAT DOWN AND LOOKED AT A COPY because I’ve been so flat out crazy busy.
• I received, signed, and sent back my contracts for books #4, 5, & 6.
• I received, edited, and sent back my final pass manuscript for book #3, Tempest’s Legacy.
• Had about a million lunches/dinners/farewell gatherings. I HATE MOVING AND I HATE SAYING GOODBYE. So I don’t! I say, “See y’all later,” because I will. 😉

There was some other shit, but that’s the big stuff. I’ve managed not to have a nervous breakdown, although when I waddled up to find my window broken I nearly succumbed. But the good thing about always living on my own and traveling around on my own so much is that it has made me pretty resilient. . . mostly because if I do curl up in a ball, there’s no one there to poke me with a stick until I get back up. 😉

(For those of you who know how commitment phobic I am, that’s actually the only reason I think I might one day settle down . . . so there’s someone around to poke me with a stick if I collapse. It’s on the same imagery-continuum as Bridget Jones’s “Eaten by Alsatians.” And, yes, my friends get mad at me when I say things like this.)

All in all and despite the car drama, I’m very well and very much looking forward to getting to my new apartment. That said, I’ll basically have enough time to unpack and maybe have a meal before I’m off to Seattle to do some book stuff (including a book signing with Mark Henry that y’all should come to) and attend my friends’ wedding.

But then I’ll go back to PA, and my new life! I’ll be really busy with orientation at my new college, as well as prepping my new courses. I’m going to have to do a lot of Computer Things for them, which makes me a bit nervous. But I think it’ll actually be straightforward once I sit down to figure it out. That said, I know there will be Much Swearing and probably a few Threatening Fist Shakes. Definitely some Moments of Panic.

So that’s me for the next few weeks: move, Seattle, prep for teaching. I’ll also be fitting in some Jane time. I’ve put Eye of the Tempest on hold, for a bit, mostly because I had abso-fucking-lutely NO idea what the middle bit was going to contain. I have the beginning  fifty pages (which I think is the strongest opener I’ve ever written. Although that doesn’t say much, as my openings have always sucked and gotten cut, entirely). I also know what a couple of scenes in the middle will be, and I know my AWESOME ending. But, yeah, that was it.

Luckily, I sent forth a plea to my AMAZING Ideas Factory, Christie Ko, who is beautiful and wonderful and BRILLIANT. She gave me some great ideas that have been percolating away in the dreaded brain pan . . . and I think everything is coming together. So I’ll work on my outline on the road, and then git to writin’ again soon.

In the meantime, there’s still people sending me adorable pics of Jane in the Wild. Here’s Angie’s pic of both books being guarded over by Tofu, the Vegetarian Zombie:

Is it a zombie meerkat, or am I seeing things?

As if to combat the last post’s iPad pics, Kristy sent in Kindle pics of Jane. She looks stunning even in black and white, if I do say so myself:

I think the most dramatic story about purchasing Tracking (besides the broken-car-cord-thingie) comes from Suzanne, who actually left the dentist’s office, after having something painful done to her teeth, and walked across the parking lot to the bookstore to buy Tracking. That’s real commitment, people! Here she is, nursing her sore tooth as she holds Jane, and with it a less-sore picture of Suzanne with TR. Glad you’re feeling better, Suzanne, and I hope the book didn’t make it hurt any worse!

Finally, we have pictures from Raelena and Katia, of Jane lounging about like the strumpet she is. But she’s our strumpet, and we like her that way!

Thanks to everyone who has sent in pics, sent in kind words about the book, and sent me message about my move. I appreciate it so much . . . you guys make everything worth it!

See y’all in Pennsylvania! ROAD TRIP! 😉